Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Balcony and Container Gardening- learn how to get the best out of small spaces.$10 full price, $5 concession. Please book for this workshop by emailing: hsanghvi@kildonan.org.au or call Tash: 0431 494 773.

CHAIR YOGA with Trudy Radburn 1.10-1.30 freeTrudy Radburn has The moving room yoga studio in Brunswick. The moving room specializes in small group and private sessions.www.themovingroom.com.au

Chair yoga is a gentle style of yoga incorporating breath with movement to improve balance, coordination and focus. Relieve tension as you stretch your body feeling relaxed, revived and rejuvenated.

Volunteer-Powered NurseryFeaturing balcony garden plants.

Pop-up Peppertree CafeScrumptious freshly baked treats, coffee, teas and lunch served using ingredients from the Peppertree community garden!

SWAP TABLE - a place to share your garden's harvest, tips and questions.

These things are important because: a strategy should give aims, responsibilities, actions and timeframes and replace the ad-hoc response we've seen to-date; funding recognises that it requires special skills and real effort to get this done; the community is being invited to participate in the scoping so we have a chance to make sure it covers what it needs to.

Read on for some background on how we got here and some ways you can now help deliver the kind of strategy we really need to support food growing and urban agriculture in Moreland.

How did we get here?

In 2013, when Moreland City Council committed to developing a community food growing policy we saw an opportunity to ensure that the City of Moreland took a long term approach to growing food in Moreland, a considered, innovative, progressive policy with vision and one that was of a quality what our community deserves. Something that would address a broad range of areas including employment, social capital, environment and health.

On seeing their draft policy it was clear to us that this policy was not what it needed to be so a small group of network members worked strategically to influence its direction. We went out and spoke to councillors armed with our call to action. After many emails, letters and face to face meetings (including a group of us attending and speaking at the December council meeting), a breakthrough resolution was carried including this item:

Consult further with stakeholders on the elements required to extend this draft policy into a comprehensive ‘Moreland Urban Agricultural and Food Production Strategy’ and consider establishing a time limited Community Advisory Committee that would meet up to 3 times in 2015 to guide the development of the strategy.

Essentially the inadequate draft policy was withdrawn and it will be replaced by a strategy with a wider view on urban agriculture and local food production and the community will have a meaningful opportunity to contribute its the scope. Cr Rattnam deserves recognition for engaging with the community on this and for her part in achieving this outcome.

You can help build momentum

We're getting towards the middle of the year already and the strategy scoping has yet to start, you'll now find item 8 has just been addressed here but more importantly, as already mentioned, the community advisory committee is now being formed.

It's vital that Moreland Council don't waste this opportunity to establish a solid, supportive and comprehensive foundation for urban agriculture and local food for our future. We want to make sure council keeps moving.

Here's how you can help:1. Put your name down to be on the advisory committee by June 4th (details here)2. Email, call or meet your Moreland councillors.
Those for your ward or all of them - their email addresses are below. Not sure which ward you are in? you can check here and find their numbers.

Tell them your local food story, why you want more food grown in Moreland and why you support a ‘Moreland Urban Agriculture and Food Production Strategy’. Ask them what Council's position is, what they think, what the council's plans are.

Every contact counts. Please take a few minutes to support this, regardless of whether or not you live in Moreland.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

"Time and again I talk to people who cite the progressive approach Yarra Council took in 2012 appointing a dedicated urban agriculture facilitator. They did what every council needs to do - established a dedicated resource to make it easier to grow more food in the city. They made it somebody's job to help and ended the urban-ag hand-balling that happens in councils everywhere. Yarra has managed to get so much done since putting this role in place.

It was thanks to the hard work of lots of local food people in Yarra that this ever happened and they've had to fight hard to keep it. They and their council established a beacon for the rest of us.

Sadly, Yarra Council's draft budget has provisionally cut the funding for this position."

Sounds familiar right? Only a year ago Yarra threatened to remove funding for their urban ag facilitator. Following a record number of community submissions and petitions protesting against the cuts, the funding was re-instated into the final budget.

Funding dumped again

Yarra Council has once again dumped its widely recognised Urban Agriculture Program from their draft budget.

Current funding ($100,000 in total) for the Urban Agriculture Officer’s position and approximately $50,000 for public gardening projects have been cut, ending Council’s widely lauded support for residents wanting to green their streets and laneways, and set up innovative forms of community gardens. The operating expenditure budget is listed as $158.7 million.

What can you do?

If you oppose these cuts please email Council by next Wednesday May 13th to demand the program be refunded (see contact details below). We have it on good authority that if we can secure a vote to retain the Program we should not have to re-visit this same situation again.

To make this happen though your urgent support is needed to demand that Council reinstate the Urban Agriculture funding into their final budget.

If we are to save Urban Agriculture in Yarra it is vital to provide your feedback to Council:

SHARE THIS WIDELY!

Tell Council what you think of the cuts - email Grace.Wong@yarracity.vic.gov.au or post a letter by next Wednesday May 13th to Grace Wong, Corporate and Financial Services, P.O. Box 168, Richmond VIC 3121.

Growing food in street planter boxes, community gardens or gardens in laneways promotes social contact between neighbours, encourages the sharing of gardening skills and educates urban children where food comes from.

Growing local food will help our city become more sustainable and liveable.

That gardening is great exercise and Council should promote it for health reasons – its also good fun.

Welcome to our website.

The Moreland Food Gardens Network provides an opportunity for people in Moreland to come together on a regular basis to share information and collaborate in a variety of ways to improve food access and urban agriculture in the area.